D. JAUNPUR
The modern city of Jaunpur on the river Gumti, thirty-four miles north-west of Banaras, was founded by Firuz Shah and remained the headquarters of the provincial government till 1394. According to Shams-i-Siraj 'Afif, the contemporary historian, Firüz Shah halt- ed at Zafarābād in 1359 on his way to Bengal and impressed by the site of the present city where the road crossed the river, decided to build a town there to be called Jaunpur, after the name of his cousin Sultan Muhammad whose real name was Jauna.1
Cunningham
was of the opinion that there was an older Hindu city called Jamanpur on the
Gumti, and Firüz Shah utilized the materials from the buildings of this older
town to lay the foundation of his new city. The Hindus of Jaunpur still call
their city 'Jamanpur', and believe that the name is derived from the Sage
Jamadagni.
The
founder of the Sultanate of Jaunpur was Malik Sarvar who is said to have begun
his career as a slave of Sultan Muhammad (son of Firuz Tughluq). But he rose
steadily till he became the wazir in A.D. 1389 with the title of Khvāja Jahān.
Sultan Mahmud, the last Tughluq king, conferred on him the title of
Malik-ush-Sharq (chief of the east) and appointed him governor of the eastern
pro- vinces of the empire.
The
object in appointing the wazir as a governor was to sup- press the Hindu
rebellions which had thrown the government of this part of the country into
confusion. Malik Sarvar left Delhi for Jaunpur in A.D. 1394 and suppressed the
rebels at Etawa, Koil and Kanauj. He then recovered from the rebels Awadh,
Kanauj, Sandila, Dalmau, Bahraich, and Bihār, and repaired the forts which they
had destroyed. Thus he consolidated his position, establishing his hold over a
vast territory comprising Awadh, and the Gangetic valley from Koil in the west
to Bihār in the east. The ruler of Bengal is said to have sent him tributes,
which had been withheld from the weak government of Delhi.
Malik
Sarvar was for all practical purposes an independent king, though he abstained
from assuming the parapharnelia of sovereignty. During the invasion of Timür he
did not send any help to Delhi. He died in A.D. 1399 in the plentitude of his
power, leaving behind a kingdom which stretched from Koil in the west to Tirhut
and Bihār in the east.
Malik
Sarvar, a eunuch, probably of Negro blood, was succeed- ed by his adopted son
who assumed the title of Sultan Mubarak Shäh. His original name Qaranfül
(clove) seems to indicate that he was an African slave. Mubarak issued coins
and had the khutba read in his name. This provoked an attack on Jaunpur by
Mallu Iqbal Khan, the powerful minister of Sultan Mahmud Tughluq (A.D. 1400).
The two armies encamped on the two banks of the Ganga, but after a period of
inactivity, the scarcity of provisions forced them to come to an understanding
and the two armies re- turned to their respective capitals. Shortly after,
Mubarak Shāh died (A.D. 1402), and the amirs raised his brother Ibrahim to the
throne, under the title of Shams-ud-din Ibrahim.
Soon
after his accession Ibrahim Shah was faced with an inva- sion by Mallu Iqbal
and Mahmud Tughluq. The two belligerents stood confronting each other on the
opposite banks of the Gangā. Then, as has been related above,2 Sultan Mahmud,
unable to bear the tutelage of Iqbal, escaped to Ibrahim Shah's camp, and being
coldly received there, fled to Kanauj which he occupied. Iqbal left for Delhi
without fighting with Ibrahim Shah, who returned to Jaunpur.
However,
when after the death of Iqbal, Sultan Mahmud re- turned to Delhi (A.D. 1405),
Ibrāhīm Shāh, after an initial failure re-annexed Kanauj after a siege of four
months (A.D. 1407). He was then joined by several other nobles and made a bid
for the con- quest of Delhi. Capturing Sambhal on his way, Ibrahim arrived near
Delhi, when news reached him that Sultan Muzaffar Shah of Gujarat was sending
an army to relieve Sultan Mahmud. Ibrahim thereupon returned to Jaunpur and
spent the next fourteen years there patronizing art and literature. During this
period, he once resolved to invade Bengal from where complaints of the
persecution of the Muslims by the Hindu Rājā Gaṇeśa reached him. According to
some accounts Gaṇeśa had his son converted to Islām and Ibrāhīm was pacified,
while according to other accounts Ibrahim was defeated,3
In
A.D. 1427, Ibrāhīm attacked Bayana in an attempt to restore it to Muhammad Khan
Auladi. He was opposed by Mubarak Shah, the Sayyid king of Delhi, but after an
indecisive battle, the two armies retired in good order (A.D. 1428). In A.D.
1431, Ibrāhīm attempted to conquer Kalpi but was opposed by Sultan Hushang
Ghüri of Mälwa who also had the same objective.4 Before any action took place,
news came that Mubarak Shāh, the Sayyid king of Delhi, was advancing towards
Jaunpur. Thereupon Ibrahim returned, and Kälpi fell into the hands of Hushang
Ghuri. Nine years later Ibrahim died (A.D. 1440).
During
Ibrahim Shah's long reign of about forty years Jaunpur attained to the height
of fame and prosperity. It also became a notable centre of learning, and books
like the Hashiah-i-Hindi, the Bahr-ul-Mawwaj, the Fatwa-i-Ibrahim Shahi, and
the Irshad were written by renowned scholars including Qăzi Shihab-ud-din, the
great favourite of Sultan Ibrahim. His reign was also memorable for the
architectural splendour of Jaunpur to which reference will be made later.
Ibrahim
Shah was succeeded by his eldest son Mahmud Shah. It is related that Mahmud
Shah set about invading Bengal whereupon the king of Bengal appealed to Shah
Rukh the king of Irān, through the Rājā of Siālkot. Shah Rukh ordered Mahmud
Shāh to desist. Mahmud Shāh obeyed the order of Shah Rukh, and instead of
proceeding towards Bengal advanced towards Kālpi.
Sultan Hūshang of Malwa who, as noted above, had captured the district of Kalpi, appointed one Qadir Khân as its governor. After Hushang's death, Qadir became more or less independent of Malwa. He was succeeded by his son Nasir, and Sultan Mahmud complained about Nasir's outrageous conduct to Sultan Mahmūd Khalji of Malwa. The charge against Nasir was "that he had destroyed the town of Shāhpur which was larger and more populous than Kalpi, had banished Musalmāns from their homes and had made over Musalman women to Kāfirs". The basis for the last charge seems to be that the Muslim girls were handed over to the Hindus in order that they might be taught dancing. Nasir probably adopted harsh measures against the Muslims of Shahpur as a punishment for some misdeeds, such as rebellion. The charges, however, were so grave, that Sultan Mahmud Khalji, who was then occupied elsewhere, gave Sultan Mahmud permission to chastise Nasir, and the Sultān of Jaunpur thereupon invaded Kālpī. Later, however, Nasir obtained the protection of Mahmud Khalji, who proposed to the Sultan of Jaunpur that as Nasir had expressed his contrition he should be left in possession of Rath in the Kalpi district. As Mahmud of Jaunpur rejected this proposal, Mahmud Khalji marched against him (November, 1444) and fought an indecisive action near Irij. Eventually, through the mediation of a Muslim saint, peace was restored between Janupur and Malwa by the immediate cession of Rath or Rohut to Nasir and a promise to restore Kālpī after four months within which period Mahmud Khalji was to retire to Mändū, By the end of the year the two Mahmuds returned to their respec- tive capitals and Kalpi was restored to Nasir.
After
this Mahmud suppressed a rebellion in Chunar and is said to have led a
successful raid into Orissa.6 In 1452, he advanced against Delhi, in response
to an invitation by some recalcitrant nobles, to remove Buhlül Lodi, the
Afghan, from the throne. The course of this war in which the Jaunpur army
suffered defeat has already been narrated.7 Hostilities with Delhi again broke
out when Buhlül Lodi forced the Räjä of Etawa to submission. As Mahmüd claimed
the allegiance of Etawa, he invaded the district to contest Buhlul's claim.
After some desultory fighting, however, they came to terms, and a peace was
concluded according to which the boundary between the two states was to remain
as it had been during the reign of Mubarak Shah, and Buhlül was to be permitted
to conquer Shamsābād from its governor who owed nominal allegiance to Jaunpur.
But
after Buhlul conquered Shamsābād and conferred it upon one Rājā Karan, Mahmud
marched against Buhlül. As the Jaunpur army approached Shamsabad, it was
attacked by an advance guard of Buhlul under Qutb Khan Lodi. The attack failed
and Qutb Khan was taken prisoner and sent to Jaunpur. But before any deci- sive
action could take place, Mahmud died in A.D. 1457 and was succeeded by his son
Bhikan, who assumed the title of Muhammad Shāh,
Muhammad
Shah acknowledged Buhlül's right to retain Sham- säbäd and peace was restored.
But as Buhlul was returning to Delhi he was reproached by his wife for leaving
Qutb Khan, her brother, a prisoner of Jaunpur. Buhlül thereupon turned back,
and Muhammad also marched on Shamsābād, expelled Buhlül's nominee Rājā Karan,
and restored the fief to its former Sharqi governor. His success attracted to
his standard some powerful adherents, and Muhammad reached the river Saraswati
where some desultory fight- ing took place. But before any decisive action took
place, dissen- sions broke out in the Jaunpur camp.
Muhammad
Shah was apprehensive lest one of his four brothers--Hasan, Husain, Jalal and
Ibrahim-should be raised to the throne by the nobles. The prisoner Qutb Khăn
Lodi was also a source of danger, as his sister was prompting her husband
Buhlül Lodi to attack Jaunpur and rescue her brother. Muhammad Shāh therefore
sent an order to one of his officers at Jaunpur to execute his brother Hasan
and Qutb Khan Lodi. This order could not be carried out as Muhammad's mother
was keeping a strict watch on her son and Qutb Khan Lodi,
Muhammad,
therefore, requested his mother to join him in his camp on a specious plea and
as soon as the dowager Queen left Jaunpur, Prince Hasan was executed. On
hearing this, Muhammad's two other brothers, Husain Khan and Jalāl Khan, who
were in the camp, decided to revolt. Husain, seceding from the main army with
30,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants, joined his mother at Kanauj, and was there
proclaimed king under the title of Husain Shäh.
There
were further defections in Muhammad's army which forced him to retire, pursued
by Buhlul up to Kanauj. From Kanauj Buhlül returned to Delhi, and Muhammad now
found himself oppos- ed by his brother Husain's army. Most of his officers
deserted him and he was killed in the action that followed.
A
four years' truce was concluded in A.D. 1458 between Buhlül and Husain, and
Qutb was freed from captivity in exchange of Husain's brother, Jalal Khan, who
had been taken prisoner by Buhlül's soldiers in a skirmish shortly after
Husain's departure.
Husain
then collected a large army and proceeded towards Orissa by way of Tirhut. He
overran Tirhut and it is stated by the Muslim historians that the Rai of
Orissa, frightened at his approach, hastened to secure peace by presenting
thirty elephants and one hundred horses, besides other valuable materials.
Husain accepted the presents and returned to Jaunpur.
The
king of Orissa during this raid was either Kapilendra (A.D. 1435-1467) or his
son Purushottama (A.D. 1467-1497). Kapi- lendra was a very powerful king and it
seems unlikely that Husain could induce him to submit. But the early part of
Purushottama's reign was troubled, as has been related elsewhere, and it is not
un- likely that he should have purchased peace by surrendering some of his
elephants and horses.8
Husain
then repaired the fort of Banaras and in the following year sent an army to
besiege the fort of Gwalior. He failed to cap- ture the fort and had to return
satisfied with tribute.
According
to the Muslim chronicles, Jaunpur at this time pos- sessed probably the biggest
army in India; in any case it was far superior, at least in number, to the army
of Buhlul Lodi. The four years' truce with Delhi, concluded in A.D. 1458, had
long ago ex- pired, and Husain was constantly urged by his wife Malika-i-Jahan,
daughter of 'Alam Shah, the last Sayyid king of Delhi, to conquer it from
Buhlül. Husain therefore began to make preparations for the invasion of Delhi.
When
Buhlul realized that he might not be able to withstand a powerful Sharqi attack
led by Husain, he turned for help to Mahmud Khalji of Mälwa and sent him two
successive deputations in 1469. Mushtaqï, Nizām-ud-din, Firishta and some other
writers refer only to one deputation, but the contemporary biographer of the
Sultan of Malwa has given a detailed account of two separate missions sent by
Buhlül. The first, consisting of Shaikhzāda Muhammad Farmali and Räizäda Kapur
Chand, son of Rai Kirät Singh of Gwalior, waited on Mahmud on February 21,
1469, and solicited his help against Husain's aggression. Mahmud was willing to
accede to their request but he expected a price for this help. the meantime, Buhlül
appears to have received alarming reports of Husain's designs as he soon after
sent another deputation which in- cluded Qutb Khan Lodi and Rai Kirāt Singh
which met Mahmud on April 3, 1469. They were authorized to offer the cession of
Bayana and a yearly levy of 6,000 men if Mahmud came personally with his armies
to help Buhlul. The Khalji Sultan accepted the arrangement but he could not act
up to it as he died only a month later on May 3, 1469.9
The
Jaunpur army made triumphant progress and reached the suburbs of Delhi. Buhlul,
despairing of success, offered terms agree- ing to cede the whole of his
territory, retaining for himself only the city of Delhi and the tract of the
country lying thirty-six miles around it, which he would govern as Husain's vassal.
But Husain rejected the terms, and Buhlül left the city with a small army and
encamped on the banks of the Yamuna opposite his enemy's army. Some time passed
without any action; then one day, noticing that the Jaunpur army was off its
guard, Buhlul suddenly attacked it. The Jaunpur army fled practically without
offering any resistance, and though Husain managed to escape, his family was
captured. Buhlül, however, treated them with marked respect, and later sent
them to Jaunpur.
Husain
thus lost the best chance he ever had of capturing Delhi. Next year he again
attacked Delhi at the instigation of his wife, but was again defeated. Shortly
after, Husain invaded Delhi for the third time, but was defeated by Buhlül at
Sikhera, about twenty- five miles east of Delhi.
Shortly
after this, on the death of Husain's father-in-law, 'Alam Shah, the last Sayyid
king, who had retired to Badāūn, Husain seized the district dispossessing his
brother-in-law. He also captured Sambhal from Buhlül's governor Tätär Khăn Lodi,
and took him prisoner. He then again marched on Delhi in March 1479. This time
Husain suffered a total defeat and Buhlul Lodi conquered practically the whole
of his kingdom. Husain retired to Bihar where he seems to have been left in
occupation of a small territory yielding a revenue of five lakhs of rupees.
According to Nizăm-ud-din, Buhlül, "acting in a spirit of generosity, did
not interfere with him". But after Buhlül's death, when Sikandar ascended
the throne of Delhi, Husain induced Sikandar's brother Barbak, the governor of
Jaunpur, to re- bel, as has been narrated above. After Sikandar had conquered
Jaunpur from Barbak, he proceeded against Husain as the latter was the
instigator of troubles. The course of this campaign has been narrated above. Husain
was unable to make any stand against Sikandar, who annexed his territory.
Husain then fled to Bengal where he was granted asylum by Sultan 'Ala-ud-din
Husain Shäh There he passed his last days in obscurity.
Reference
1.
See above, p. 92
2.
See above, p. 122
3.
See the next section of this Chapter.
4.
See above p. 175.
5.
According to Nizam-ud-din and others Ibrāhīm died in 840 A.F. (A.D. 1436). But
his coins show that he was alive at least up to 844 A.H. (JASBI, XVIII. 135,
157),
6.
This and the next invasion of Orissa, respectively by Mahmud and Husain of
Jaunpur, though vouched for by Nizam-ud-din and Firishta, appear to be very
doubtful. See the Chapter on Orissa,
7.
See above, p. 140.
8.
See t.n. 6 above.
9.
“Ma'asir-i-Mahmud Shāh?" Cambridge MS. fols. 471-476; Bodleian MS. fols,
307-309,
Tubingen MS. fol. 264.
The
date of Husain Sharqï's first major attack on Delhi is disputed. Nizam- ud-din
has mentioned the year 1473, but he also says that Buhlül simultaneous- ly sent
appeals for help to Mahmud Khalji of Malwa, notwithstanding the fact that
Mahmud I had died four years earlier (Tabaqat-i-Albarī, Vol. III, p. 284).
Haig, in an attempt to correct Nizam-ud-din, writes that Buhlül sent his agents
to Mahmud II of Malwa who, however, ascended the throne in 1511, about 22 years
after Buhlül's death. (CHI, III, pp. 231).
'Abdul
Haqq writes that it was during the progress of Husain's invasion of Delhi that
Mahmud Khalji I of Malwa died (May 3, 1469). The invasion had, therefore, been
launched probably some time between March and May 1469. (This discussion of the
date of Husain Sharqi's attack on Delhi is by Dr. Hamid- ud-Din-Ed.).